The market had entered a consolidation phase last week, but still, all dips were being bought. Foreign institutional investors have continued to pour money into India, providing massive support to the market rally.
“Bull markets have an uncanny ability to climb many walls of worries. And, this bull market, in typical style, is consistently climbing many such walls. The border stress with China, the farmers’ strike, inflation, crude spike…are no longer issues of concern. The bulls are focussed on growth & earnings recovery and the incredibly improving Covid incidence,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“FPIs feel that India has the best post- Covid rebound story. In such a favourable setting, investors should remain invested with occasional profit booking. Bank Nifty is fast catching up with the rest of Nifty. IT has still room to go up. There is value in pockets of mid-small-caps.”
Factors driving markets
- Reverting to normal? The euro zone is likely to decide between March and May when and how governments would start tapering support to their economies as vaccinations allow the lifting of pandemic lockdowns and economic activity picks up, officials said on Monday.
- US bond yields rise: Benchmark US Treasury yields rose to their highest levels since March on Friday, while inflation expectations edged up to a six-year high.
- WHO nod to cheap vaccine: The World Health Organization on Monday listed AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, widening access to the relatively inexpensive shot in the developing world.
How bluechips are doing
After opening in the green, benchmark indices strengthened their lead. At 9:40 am, BSE flagship Sensex was up 307 points or 0.59 per cent at 52,461. NSE benchmark Nifty followed and added 104 points or 0.68 per cent to 15,419.
In the 50-share pack Nifty, Hindalco was the biggest gainer, up 4.65 per cent. ONGC, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, SBI, Power Grid and Tech Mahindra were among other gainers.
Bajaj Finance was the top loser in the pack, down 1.03 per cent. Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Hero Motocorps, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Eicher Motors and Divi’s Labs were other losers in the pack.
Broader markets
Broader market indices traded with gains in line with their headline peers in morning trade. Nifty Smallcap was up 0.66 per cent while Nifty Midcap added 0.66 per cent. The broadest index on NSE — the Nifty 500 — was up 0.67 per cent.
Indian Bank, Vakrangee, Kalpataru Power, Union Bank of India, Jindal Steel and Adani Total Gas were among major gainers from the space while M&M Financials, Prestige Estates, L&T Financial, Ircon, Dilip Buildcon and Rail Vikas Nigam were under selling pressure.
Global markets
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticked up 0.45 per cent while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.4 per cent to a 30-year high.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index surged 1.79 per cent to hit a 32-month high in its first trading session since Thursday following the Lunar New Year holidays.
Mainland Chinese markets will remain closed for the holidays until Thursday while Wall Street was also shut on Monday.
